


Doctors Without Borders

by Longlivemystories



Category: Predator
Genre: Fluff, Gay, M/M, Smut, Yautja, gunna be super gay u guys, mlm, predator - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:33:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24021376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longlivemystories/pseuds/Longlivemystories
Summary: A yautja crashes into earth and a human saves them. Cliche, I know, but what follows could be entertaining.
Relationships: Predator/oc, Yautja/OC, other - Relationship
Comments: 44
Kudos: 190





	1. Early Morning

I wouldn’t have even known anything was different if it wasn’t for my late night need for water and my inability to see anything without my glasses. I awoke early in the morning, around four or so, to the shattering of the glass I’d set so poorly on my nightstand. It was so quick and so sudden that I thought it might be part of my dream, but I happened to reach over for my phone and realized it, too, was on the floor. Most of my usual nightstand items were either knocked over or blatantly on the floor. What had happened? Was it a freak earthquake that lasted less than a tenth of a second? Anything else seemed so impossible in my sleepy state of mind. It took an unfortunate minute or two to figure out something bad must have happened near by. Jumping out of bed and yanking on a robe and slippers and my glasses, I ran through the small cabin and out into the backyard. 

Brisk, cold air hit my bare legs and caused me to pause, but as I scanned the back yard and as far as I could into dense woods, nothing was really sticking out at me. I walked around the edge of the mowed lawn, looking for any sign of distress or answers, but nothing came. Wonderful. Definitely wasn’t awake enough for this shit. I turned finally, dew soaking my slippers and coating my feet and ankles, trying not to be disappointed about the lack of activity. A snap not far away from me caused me to whip around and I was almost taken down by a small group of deer. I jumped to the side fast enough and could only lay on the ground, mouth open in awe at the normally cowardly animals rushing so brazenly at me. What in the hell could have scared them so much? Once they disappeared into the woods on the other side of the backyard, I laid flat on my back in the grass. It took me a minute to realize what I was seeing in the still somewhat dark sky was a thin plume of smoke. 

My eyebrows scrunched and I slowly stood, keeping my eyes on the pillar of smoke. I turned in what I hoped to be it’s direction and started off. It was difficult to keep an eye on the smoke and make sure I didn’t trip and fall to my doom, but eventually, the smell of smoke was in my nose and it was easier to follow. The further into the woods I went, the more dense it became so I had no way of seeing the ship before I physically can into it after moving through some brush. Grunting quietly, I took a small step backward, stabilizing myself on the edge of the space ship. 

A sleek black design was highlighted by the small fires dotted around the accidentally made clearing and the faint sunrise barely peaking over the horizon. It wasn’t particularly massive, not like a man-made craft, but the sheer size told me it’s inhabitants probably weren’t small. The initial thing I could compare the size to was a two story cottage. A part of the. Side was ripped out by something, probably rock and trees, open wires crackling and flashing. What was I even supposed to think? Or do? There was a definitely alien space craft crash landed on my property. Then I suddenly remembered the potential inhabitants and grew worried. What if they were hurt? What if they weren’t friendly? What if they weren’t friendly because they were hurt?

A crack in the woods behind me startled me into turning around. More deer? Doubtful. I squinted as best I could into the soft light of the fires, but I wasn’t seeing anything out of the usual. Another, quieter crack just to my right and I turned in time to see a faint haze near by. Confused, I tried to look for it again, but in doing so I spotted a weird glowing green liquid. Cocking my head to the side, I moved towards it supposed spot on a tree, but then it moved. I startled back, pulling my hand back and tried to force my eyes to fix what it was seeing. There’s no way it moved...? I tentatively reached for it again, but a low growl had me yanking my hand back quickly.

Abruptly, something crashed to the ground and gradually it came into view. It was almost like it was using some sort of invisibility shield... What ever it was, it was massive, at least six, probably seven feet tall with heavily muscle-bound appendages. I saw the source of the green liquid and it came to me that it was probably its’ blood. I couldn’t move for a solid minute and in the very quiet woods, all I heard was it’s haggard breathing. It was injured... it could be dying. I slowly turned and went back towards my house. My brain was so hazy, unsure if what I was about to do would be for the best, but the oath I took shouldn’t extend to just humans. I didn’t realize I was running until I just about slammed into the shut door, chest heaving from the strain of not so nimbly running through the forest in the dark. I snatched the bag that was sitting ready on the table near the front door and went straight back into the woods. 

A little dizzy, but awake, I arrived back at the crash site and immediately spotted the downed creature. How much time did I have? All I knew was human anatomy, but I touched my first two fingers just under the jawline of its helmet. Still warm and after moving a few more inches, I found a heart beat. It was slow, but steady. Not conceringly slow, but enough to make me yank open the bag and move down to his wound. What I could only assume was blood was very slowly seeping out of its gash, seeping at intervals even with its heart beat. The first thing I needed to do was try and stop the bleeding. I ripped open packages of gauze and shoved them against the open wound, keeping pressure. 

About an hour later, I was still holding pressure. It hadn’t moved in quite some time, but I was keeping an eye on its breathing. I tentatively lifted the gauze for the umpteenth time and finally, the bleeding had stopped. I wasn’t sure if I should do anything stitch-wise outside like this, in the middle of a clearing, but I also was sure I couldn’t move it. Instead, I grabbed another pile of gauze and taped it in place. I rummaged through my bag. I didn’t have much in the way of stitches, but what I did have would suffice until I could get back to my house. Just as I was about to put the needle to its skin, a clawed hand wrapped around my wrist and squeezed until I dropped the needle. I looked up to meet the mask right in front of my face. It seemed to be sizing me up, then looked down at its side. Finally, it let go.

I pulled my arm in towards me again, rubbing my wrist. 

“You still need sutures,” I said softly, but with a clear stance.


	2. Groceries

A heavy silence weighed down the atmosphere in my living room. Having finally let me stitch up his seemingly only wound, the alien creature was sitting tensely on my couch while I sat in my chair. It was still early, only about six or so in the morning, but I needed to go to work soon. Or better yet, call out. They could handle the day without me... I glanced down at my phone. 6:01. I was so exhausted suddenly. Tentatively, I stood, the creature tensing even more, hand by his leg strap. 

“Relax... I just need coffee. Do you want anything to eat or drink or something?” I asked carefully, holding up my hands in defense.

The creature only continued to glare at me.

“Okay, I guess not,” I sighed, turning and walking the short distance to my kitchen, which was visible from the living room.

I moved through the small side room as if it were any other morning. Muscle memory drove me through the actions as I tried my best not to think about the large creature sitting only a couple of feet away. What was I going to do? What should I do? There was no possible obvious answer. I didn’t know anything about this guy. What if he was evil or something? I scoffed quietly at my own idiocy. It was never as black and white as that, hm? 

I came back to reality as the beeping of my coffee maker went off, indicating it was ready to drink. Casually, I moved my gaze over to the couch and started when I realized he was gone. A flash of panic hurt my chest, but it wore off as quickly as it came. That’s it, huh? The responsibility was no longer on my shoulders and I was free to go about my day as usual.

“You good, Seb?”

I turned my head to see my nurse practitioner, Ray, looking at me with the usual concern.

“Yeah,” I answered, taking a long drink from my third cup of coffee. “Yeah, what’s the next appointment?” I continued, about to grab the clipboard from him.

“Uh, the regular old lady with the cold, Mrs. Baker,” he answered, willingly giving it to me. “You sure you good?” He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. “You seem a little more out of it than usual.” He leaned in suddenly, squinting. “Justin isn’t being a little bitch, is he?” He practically growled.

I playfully rolled my eyes at my old friend’s misplaced concern.

“I haven’t even heard from Justin in a month,”I reassured. “He’s the least of my concerns,” I added in a snort, looking through the file, though not really taking in any information. This truly was a regular patient and I didn’t need to look it over too closely.

“Just making sure,” Ray said, standing up straight, apparently satisfied with my answer. “You go on in and see Mrs. Baker,” he said, patting my shoulder. 

Ray wasn’t particularly a big fan of Mrs. Baker, nor was anyone else for that matter. It wasn’t that she was a regular patient, but that she was cranky and, to be honest, racist. Ray was the only black employee in our small country doctor’s office, so it rubbed him especially wrong. Of course I didn’t blame him, I was just hoping I would have the patience to deal with this so early in the morning.

“Date tonight, Ray?” I asked casually, glancing over to see him putting on a sleek button-up.

“Of course,” he answered happily with a wink. “It’s Julio tonight,” he added.

“The lawyer?” I guessed, quirking an eyebrow. “I thought he was a jerk to the waitress last time,” I commented, hanging up my medical coat and putting it on a hook on the back of the door. 

“Nooo, Julio is the dancer,” Ray corrected with a playful tut. “The lawyer is Kurk and yes, he is a prick but his cock is too delicious to pass up at least one more time,” he laughed, closing his locker.

I shook my head, offering a small smile at my friend. “I think I’m the only one you can say that too here and not get grossed out,” I joked, picking up my suitcase.

“Not true! Gera over in billing absolutely loves me and my juicy details,” Ray argued, opening the door for me as we both left.

My shoulders shook from laughter as we exited the small country building, both of us waving towards the receptionist who was also packing up to leave. Switching from a big city ER to a small town family medicine practice was a jarring transition, but now that I’d had a few weeks to settle in, I was enjoying myself. I missed the rush of jumping between extreme cases, but with everything going on in my personal life, I needed a calmer approach to work.

“Please tell me you’re doing something fun to treat yourself, Seb,” Ray said as we walked to our cars together.

“Grocery shopping, I guess,” I said with a shrug, unlocking my car. “Need to pick up some stuff for the long weekend,” I pointed out. “I just wanna stay home and not have to run around.”

“Oh my god, you’re so boring you’re gunna kill me,” Ray cried, climbing into his car and rolling down the windows, heat pouring out. “Fuck, maybe you have the right idea, though. This summer heat is killer,” he groaned.

“Don’t kill yourself partying, yeah?” I teased, following his lead and rolling down all my windows. 

He stuck his tongue out at me as he drove off, small two-door disappearing around the corner of the road. I stood there outside just a little longer. As soon as I didn’t have Ray to distract me, this morning’s events came back. Did that really happen? Was he really there, a real life alien in my living room? Shaking my head, I climbed into my hotbox of a car and headed to the store. I lived on the very edge of town, deep in the woods in a cabin really only meant for the summer. It wasn’t insulated for winter living, so I had no idea what I was going to do when that rolled around. I doubt I’d be okay returning to the city. 

The trip to the grocery store was a long one as I gathered as much food as I could afford. I still wasn’t sure if that alien was real or a fever dream, but I wasn’t about to go home empty handed. I tried not to think too much about anything on my way home. A lot of weird events were plaguing my life and I just tried to silently focus on a handful of patients that I needed to do some research for over the long weekend. By the time I pulled into my long dirt driveway, I had a tentative game plan for the weekend. Of course I wasn’t expecting the creature to be sitting on my front porch, just out in the open. Cautiously, I drove up as close to the cabin as I could and stepped out, trunk popping open.

“Hello...” I greeted slowly, not knowing what else to do in this situation. 

He stood upon seeing me, stature a little more intimidating than before now that he was apparently comfortable enough to stand at full height. I kept my movements as calm as I could as I gathered a few bags from the trunk. I was startled to see him standing right beside me and even more surprised when he grabbed the last few bags, handling almost double what I’d initially grabbed. Somehow he seemed even closer than before and I took a moment to look over his features better. He still wore his helmet, but dispatched of his heavier armor pieces. Thick muscles flexed and worked with ease and I shook my head to focus on more important aspects. 

“Thanks,” I murmured, walking to the front door after closing the trunk.

I unlocked the door easily enough and set the bags down in the kitchen. I watched him mimic my actions with the bags, then he went over and shut the door. I had absolutely no idea what level of intelligence this alien had, but it was doing all right so far.


	3. Dinner

Chapter 3:

I wasn't a hunter by any means, but the cabin came with a regular fridge/freezer combo as well as a chest freezer in the garage. I did my best to shove as much of the meat as I could in the freezer in the cabin, but gave in and eventually went to take the rest outside. As I was about to leave, the alien was there, stopping me. He didn't actually seem too interested in what I was doing but was surveying the outside before moving back, gesturing to the door. God that made me nervous. Did he know about something out in the woods that I didn't? Something dangerous? Shifting the bags, I tentatively opened the door and walked the few feet to the garage. 

I sat there in front of the chest freezer, just staring at it after I'd closed it. What was I doing? Catering to an alien like this? He hadn't really threatened me, at least outwardly, for me to feel like I have to do this. No, it wasn't that. As large and surely capable as he looked, he almost seemed... lost. Considering the crash, I could only think this wasn't his intended destination. Heaving a deep breath, I went back inside, hurrying a little more than usual just in case of anything creepy in the woods and shut the door behind me. Upon not immediately seeing him in the kitchen, I did a quick glance around the open area, putting up my hair as I went. 

Still without a sign of him, I grumbled under my breath and set to work making dinner. I knew in my head it was dinner for two, but with how much meat I was cooking it felt more like dinner for four. This guy was at least a foot, if not more, taller than myself and built like a damn tank. Clearly he needed more than I did. Unless he was a vegetarian... oh fuck what I offended him bringing home all this meat??

The squeak of nails accidentally rubbing the plastic on the steak package brought me out of my spiral and I turned around from the stove to see him holding the package curiously up to his mask. I was about to show him how to open it, but then his nail punctured the plastic easily enough and he peeled it back. His chest moved like he was sniffing the meat and he perked up, turning his head to me.

"It's just steak..." I said slowly. "I haven't cooked it yet. Please don't eat it raw, it could make you sick," I said quickly.

He waved his hand at me dismissively like of course he knew that and handed the package to me. Ah, well, at least it seemed like he was into steak for dinner. I set up the two pans I owned on the stovetop and once the meat was seasoned and the pan was hot, I placed two cuts in, enjoying the satisfying sizzle. I turned to start chopping onions and started when I saw he was right next to me. I instinctively brought my hands up to catch myself from slamming into him and touched his chest.

"Sorry... uh... it'd probably be dumb to ask if you have any allergies, huh?" I snorted, taking a step back and turning to the counter. 

He cocked his head to the side, watching my movements carefully, before turning back to the stove. He squatted down to see the propane induced flame and I really hoped I wasn't going to have to stop this guy from sticking his hand in the fire. He had a whole spaceship at his disposal and he was curious about fire? Much to my relief, he stood back up and now just watched me cut up the onion. Honestly, the whole time cooking was like having a small child in the kitchen who was absolutely curious about everything I was doing. It was concerning at first, but it grew to be amusing.

"All right, dinner's ready," I announced, setting a plate practically overflowing with food in front of my guest. 

He stared down at it for a long minute, then looked back up at me.

"What? Don't tell me you need it like pureed or anything," I said, taking my own plate to the small dining table before returning for something to drink. 

I paused, hand on the fridge handle, then turned back to him, a thought suddenly crossing my head. 

"You don't want me to see your face?" I offered, quirking an eyebrow. "I don't think there's really anything that could put me off my appetite, I am a doctor after all," I snorted. "But if you'd prefer, I can eat in my room so you can have some peace."

He stood there, still, for another moment, so I took that as a yes. Grabbing my water, I was about to also grab my plate, but I heard the door open and shut and he was gone with his food. Guess he wanted to eat outside...

The longer it took for him to return, the more worried I became. What if he /was/ allergic to the food? How in the hell was I supposed to know what he could and couldn't eat? Doubtful he'd even know what these foods were either, so it's not like he'd know. I had since moved to the couch, glass of wine on the coffee table while I listlessly tried to read my book. Glancing at the clock, it'd been three hours since I'd last seen him and it was driving me crazy. The door opened suddenly and I couldn't stop myself from turning around abruptly.

He paused, holding an empty plate, startled by my sudden movement. Seeing it was just me, he moved to the kitchen and set the plate on the now clean counter, then turned to look at me again.

"Hi..." I said, chastising myself for being so eager. "Uh... how was it? I was worried you might've died from an allergic reaction or choked or... sorry," I mumbled, sitting upright and setting the book down.

What the hell was I doing? A question I found myself asking a lot lately. Head down, I mindlessly rubbed my wine glass.

"Uh, would you--" 

I paused, seeing he wasn't in the kitchen anymore. God, he was so sneaky... I panned the open area before spotting him disappearing into the bathroom. Oh. Well, yeah, makes sense. I looked back down at my wine glass and waited in silence like an idiot until he returned. 

"Did you... want some wine?" I offered, watching as he made his way over into the living room to sit in my armchair.

He looked down at my glass, before shaking his head. I couldn't look away from the alien. It was so weird how normal it felt to be sitting here like I'd just come home from a long day at the office and was now just sitting with my husband. Justin's image flashed in my mind and I looked back down at my wine. I'd only had three sips, but my stomach was suddenly sour and I instinctively put a hand to my ribs. What was I doing?


	4. Touch

Chapter four:

A loud bang off in the distance startled me awake. I jolted up, then tumbled off the couch. Why the hell was I on the couch...? I slowly sat up, using the couch and coffee table for support. Squinting, I tried to remember what had happened, but it was all too blurry and unfocused. Some more, quieter clangs came from the direction of the loud one and I pulled myself together enough to head outside. No sign of my guest, but of course that wasn't unusual. I glanced back towards the front door, making a mental note to grab the medical supplies from my car. 

It was still early in the morning, thin fog wisps floating just above the forest floor as dew clung to my skin and clothes. I'd apparently slept in my clothes from the day before, but I guessed it was better than sleeping naked on the couch. I didn't drink a lot last night, but there was still a tiny headache pinpointed right at my temples. It knocked me off balance and finding my way to the crash site took longer than it should have. 

The closer I came, the louder the bangs got. I thought I was going to have to turn around if it got any louder, but then the sounds stopped altogether. I paused right before I would have entered the clearing. What happened? Hairs on end, I tentatively moved forward, moving around a bush to enter the area. I was just about to call out for the alien, but then I was on my back, something sharp and cold against my neck. All I could do was hope he'd see it was me and I closed my eyes, too scared to look. The weapon left my neck and I slowly opened my eyes.

"Hi..." I said weakly, not sure what else to say as the alien climbed off me. 

Much to my surprise, he offered a hand and I took it, grunting quietly as he wrenched me to my feet. His hands were coarse and calloused, but the way he handled most everything was so delicate I had to wonder how they got that way.

"Uh... sorry, I didn't mean to startle you or anything," I mumbled, glancing around the area. 

Clearly he'd been working for a long time, probably since I'd passed out last night. Parts were everywhere, but there was a certain system in place to where everything was, a system that made sense to him at least. 

"Do you think it's fixable?" I asked mindlessly, not really expecting an answer as I moved closer to the piles of screws.

He put a hand on my shoulder as I was reaching down to pick up something that had a weird blue liquid on it and I looked up at him as he shook his head. He picked up a leaf from the ground and dipped it in the blue liquid and instantly the leaf melted to nothing. I pursed my lips and slowly pulled my hand back.

"Thanks..." I said quietly. "Uh... you want breakfast?" I inquired, standing straight and looking at him.

He nodded and turned to return to working on the ship, but I noticed a spider on his back. 

"Oh hey, hold on," I said, reaching up and swatting it away. 

His whole body tensed and he turned quickly to look at me, shoulders hunched somewhat, so I moved my hand away.

"Sorry, you just had a spider on you," I explained, putting up my hands in defense. "I'll uh, go make breakfast," I said after another long moment of silence. 

It was weird trying to deal with him. Of course, he was an alien and there were obvious culture clashes, but it was more than that. It's like he knew way more about human culture and even seemed to be trying to protect me from something, but he was still so aloof and acting like he was trying to hate me. I quietly stirred a dozen eggs in the pan, waiting patiently for them to cook while checking on the bacon as I went. 

I was also confusing my self about the whole situation. I'm a doctor and my base want is to help people, so I invited this creature into my home without a second thought. Even after I'd sworn off letting people into my personal life again. I didn't want to be so trusting of this guy right away, but he could have killed me anytime. He very clearly had the faculties to do so, but maybe I was just reaching out. I shouldn't get attached, I knew, but here I was. 

"You need to slow down when you eat," I chastised, watching the alien reenter the house after only having his plateful of food for fifteen minutes. "You'll choke," I warned, setting my own plate in the sink to clean later.

I heard a clicking noise, an unfamiliar one, and turned to look at my guest. Was that him?

"Ch-choke."

It was strangled and hard to understand, but he definitely said choke. 

"You can talk?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, rude of me to assume you couldn't just because you weren't, but uh... how do you know English?"

A few more clicks and a rumble bubbled up from the creature's chest and I watched with wonder. 

"Eng--Engleesh?" he tried, cocking his head to the side.

His arms hung taughtly at his sides, fingers twitching somewhat. He seemed nervous about something, but I moved closer anyways. Something was drawing me in closer.

"English, yeah," I corrected. "My language. It's what we're speaking now," I said. "Ah... shit, I meant to grab it on my way inside," I grumbled. "Hey, can I look at your wound? Make sure it's doing okay?" I asked, motioning to the bandage on his side.

He looked down at his abdomen and before I had a chance to stop him, he ripped off the gauze. I was about to chastise him again, but my words caught in my throat. It was almost completely healed. 

"That's incredible," I breathed, reaching out and lightly tracing where the wound was. "How did you do that? Do you have super healing or something?" I inquired, looking up at him.

With the mask on, his face was obviously unreadable, but the way he didn't move or say anything, just stare at me, made me feel like I should back up.

"Uh, sorry... well, whatever happened, I'm glad you're all healed up," I added, clearing my throat. Why did it feel like I just came very close to death? I need to stop touching this guy...


	5. Accident Prone

Chapter 5:

Trying to put the whole extraterrestrial event out of my head, I set to work researching what I could for my patients. I had ten folders laid out on my coffee table in the living room, laptop on my lap as I talked to several other doctors and googled what I could. I was deep into the side effects of long-term untreated Lyme disease and what I could do to help, when I heard a loud roar from outside, deep in the woods. My blood froze and I slowly turned my head towards the window facing the woods. Instantly, concern for my guest bubbled up and constricted my chest, so I set my laptop on the table and ventured outside. 

I kept my hand on the doorknob behind me, one foot still in the doorway as I scanned the edge of the woods. It was midday, but there was absolutely no seeing more than a few feet into the woods; they were just too dense. I tried honing in on any strange noise coming from deep within, but there was absolutely nothing. What if he was hurt? What if he was attacked? Something tells me he could definitely take a bear if he were fully healed, but he could have a number of things wrong with him and I'd never know. I was becoming dizzy with the possibilities until I finally forced myself to leave the relative safety of the cabin.

I didn't have to think too hard about how to get to the crash site anymore, which was the first place I stumbled to. It looked much like how I'd left it several hours ago. Furrowing my brows, I tried to find any sign of where he could have gone, but there was nothing. I tried to search passed the trees, but again it was like it was midnight. I knew there was a lake not too far away, supposedly to the south-east and I groaned. I didn't even have my phone with me to help look for it. Fantastic. It'd be nothing for me to return to the cabin and wait for his hopeful return, but I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else. 

I was hoping the only sounds I'd be able to hear was that of the alien, but it's like the further I went from the cabin, the louder everything else was. Bugs and birds filled the air with I imagine what was supposed to be soothing to someone who spent more time in the wild. I crossed my arms over my chest, tucking my hands under. It was colder, too.   
Suddenly I heard a rustle nearby and stopped dead in my tracks. Whatever it was sounded big and I slowly glanced around my surroundings. Oh god, what the hell was I doing? Was I really going to stumble around unfamiliar woods until I hopefully reached a lake that I wasn't even sure why I was going to? Suddenly very annoyed at the whole situation, I contemplated turning around and heading back, but then I realized there was no way in hell I could find my way back now. I turned this way and that, also realizing the mistake I'd made. I didn't know which way I was walking originally now, let alone which way I'd come from. 

There was a hearty snap somewhere nearby and I found myself backing away from the source and into a tree. Please, just let it be a fat bird breaking a tree branch...  
I stood by that tree for a few more minutes, contemplating the best course of action, before just sitting down, pulling my knees to my chest. Fuck me...

The longer I sat there, the colder I became. I kept telling myself to get up, to move, to try and do something other than just sit there and wait for death, but another part reminded myself that when you're lost, you're supposed to just sit and wait for rescue. A quick stroll to the lake could very well turn into getting completely lost on the Appalachian trail and dying of quite a few different things. And it probably did in my case. 

I had been resting my head on my arms, which were resting on my knees. I thought Id finally decided on what best to do and when I opened my eyes, it was pitch black. How long had I been sitting out here? Well fuck, I especially can't maneuver through the woods in the night. I had to wonder what my guest was doing at that moment? Was he okay? I imagined him arriving at the cabin expecting dinner only to see I wasn't there, hadn't been for quite some time. Then I imagined, for a very brief second, his mangled corpse at the bottom of one of the many ravines in the area and I shook my head harshly. 

No, he was okay. He had to be. He seemed so much more capable than me. I then imagined myself at the bottom of that ravine and scoffed, resting my forehead back down on my arms. I'd be better off down there. Who was I kidding?

Right after I heard the snap of a twig right next to me, I heard a low purring noise and I froze, my chest tight. What the hell was in these woods that would be purring like that? Well... Mountain lions were... I tried not to move, hoping desperately it would leave me alone if I looked like a rock or a log or something. Were mountain lions scavengers? Fuck me...

The purring came closer as if whatever it was was lowering to my height. It then clicked a few times and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up suddenly and in the very dim moonlight, saw the helmet of my guest.

"Holy fuck... you scared me," I gasped, leaning back and putting a hand to my chest.

"You... scar-scared me..." he mimicked back, helping me to my feet.

I watched him for a moment, before dusting myself off.

"Thank you... for finding me," I said quietly. "I heard a noise out here and I thought maybe.. you were hurt," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head. "Let's just go back to the cabin," I decided with a heavy sigh. 

As soon as we started walking, I tripped over a rock, my foot catching underneath it so my body weight twisted my ankle enough to make a loud pop. I gasped, doing my best to untwist it as I was falling, but still sustaining quite a bit of damage. The creature was immediately down next to me, one hand on my arm and the other on my leg.

"Are you fucking kidding me," I groaned, letting my head drop back to the ground. 

He tried to free my foot from the awkward position and I hissed in pain when he touched the appendage. Instead, he moved the rock and I awkwardly moved my leg away. 

"I'm sorry to ask, but I just need the crutches I keep in the cabin," I said, looking up at him. "I can't walk on it and--"

Without any warning, thick arms hooked under my back and legs and hoisted me into the air. The fresh pain was still pulsing through my entire leg, but I was so startled I didn't seem to notice anymore. He clicked a few times before heading off back to the cabin, careful not to hit me against any trees. 

The lights were on in the cabin when we arrived and he opened the door with ease and set me on the couch, again being careful not to hit my foot on anything. He cocked his head to the side as he watched me painstakingly roll up my pant leg to see my ankle was very purple and swollen.

"Fuck..." I swore under my breath. "I need to take my shoe off," I grumbled, already untying the laces and pulling them as loose as I could. "The whole thing needs to be set, but I can't do that by myself..." I mumbled, wincing as I slid off my shoe and sock.

He knelt down by the couch and clicked quietly, hand hovering over my injured ankle. I hoped he wasn't doing to do anything at my expense like touch it, but instead, he stood back up and left the cabin entirely. I paused, not exactly expecting that response. Couldn't really blame him, though. He had more things to worry about than this pathetic sack. As I was about to try to stand to find my crutches, he came back into the cabin holding a strange black box. He paused as well, just looking at me before growling and pointing to the couch again.


	6. Wrong

Chapter six:  
He set the strange black box on the coffee table and pressed a button. In my surprise and mild concern the box folded out several times to reveal many compartments full of what I could only assume was medical supplies. I looked up at him in awe, quirking an eyebrow.

"I don't think that's physically possible, but I'm impressed. Wish we had something like this instead of our huge carts at the er," I added, grabbing a pillow and pulling it closer so I could comfortably lay down.

"I am... not dock...tore..." he said slowly, a low growl in his voice. I was hoping he was just frustrated with the language barrier and not my general stupidity. "What...?"

"Are you asking me what to do?" I inquired slowly. When he nodded, long dread-like tendrils following his head movements, I let out a long breath. "If this isn't done right, I could have a really messed up foot for the rest of my life," I warned. "Or they'll have to rebreak it and I'm not too fond of that idea either. It'd be better if I got an x-ray..."

He tapped his helmet. "X...ray," he sounded out. "Bones."

"Right, bones," I said. "We have a super old one at the doctor's office I work at, but getting there would be a problem..." I murmured, pondering the possibilities.

"I can.. see bones," the alien continued. "With..." He paused for a long moment, as if not knowing the word, before just tapping his helmet.

"Your helmet lets you see through people's bodies?" I asked incredulously. "That's wild... and so very useful," I added. "So you can see the damage?"

He nodded, moving closer to look at my ankle. He very lightly traced over my skin with the tip of his finger, barely touching it, but it still hurt like hell. I winced and he pulled his hand away. The way he moved around my ankle was so gentle, it surprised me. This guy was huge, more so than I'm used to seeing, bigger than even my ex, but he did everything to prevent me from being in more pain than necessary.

"Ah..." I spoke finally. "Right, we need to set it..." I said, clearing my throat.

I snatched my laptop and finally found a good x-ray view of an ankle that was not broken and showed it to him.

"This is what it needs to look like," I told him, setting my laptop so he'd be able to continuously view it for reference. 

I watched him look back and forth between the picture and my ankle, then nodded.

"Okay, then you're going to grasp my foot here and my ankle here," I said, demonstrating with my other foot. "And twist like this, but you'll have to use a firm grasp and one solid mo--"

I cried out from the pain as he popped my bone back into place before I'd even finished my sentence. I clutched my uninjured foot tightly, drawing blood with my nails as I squeezed my eyes shut. Fuck... Once the pain subsided enough for me to open my eyes, I shot him with an exhausted look.

"Thank you..." I breathed, laying back down, suddenly feeling rather dizzy. "We...." I breathed, finding it hard to grasp the right words. "Need to put it in a cast..." I mumbled.

"C...cast?" he inquired. 

I reached my arm out for my laptop, which he pushed into my reach and I looked up a video on how to make a cast. He clicked a few times while watching the video, but then turned the laptop away and rifled around in his box.

"Do not use... many time..." he mumbled lowly. "But... easy..."

"Hm?" I murmured, sitting up just enough to watch what he was doing. 

He placed a small metal device right on the top of my ankle and pressed a button. Suddenly thin metal strands wrapped around the middle of my foot up to five inches above my ankle on my calf. I was about to say something, but then a thin material of some kind stretched out through the metal frame and suctioned to my form.

"Interesting..." I murmured, sitting up more to touch it. "I have no idea what this material is, and I wasn't sure it'd actually be useful, but it feels just as hard as a cast now and it's not even uncomfortable," I added, looking it over.

The alien took a small box from the much larger one and when he opened it, he pulled out some sort of pill.

"Heal..."

I tentatively took it and looked it over. "What is it?"

"...Heal."

I looked at him for a long moment, before finally handing it back. "Sorry, I'm not sure I want to put alien technology in my body for right now," I said. "I appreciate the thought though."

My guest shrugged and returned it to its rightful place before closing up the whole box. I laid back down on the couch, the pain returning to the forefront of my mind and I let out a long sigh, trying not to think about it too much. I heard some noises coming from the kitchen so I lifted my head enough to watch him pull out the pans. I was surprised he was able to move about the kitchen as if he'd lived here his whole life. I painfully scooted back so I was resting on the armrest, head propped up comfortably to watch him while still keeping my foot elevated with the pillow at the other end.

I quirked an eyebrow at the cuts of meat sitting on the kitchen island. I didn't buy those...? Although I was still a little anxious to leave him unsupervised, I decided to turn on the t.v. I spaced out while it was playing and before I knew it, he was setting a plate of cooked meat down in front of me. I looked up at him, surprised.

"Thank you," I said quietly, sitting up a little more. "Are you going to eat with me today?"

He shook his head, holding his own plate, and exited the building, shutting the door behind him. I watched the door for a minute, wondering what I was doing yet again. I felt like I didn't have the emotional or mental capacity to actually deal with the situation and going with it was the best option. I slowly turned back to the t.v. and watched a movie while I ate. My first bite was hesitant, but it was actually pretty good. I could tell he really went wild with the spices, but it weirdly worked. Two or three bites in, I suddenly felt the heat hit me hard in the back of my throat and I coughed. 

I looked over at the front door as he entered the cabin and he came right over and took my plate. Was I in a whole different world? I finally figured out why this all felt so wrong. Watching him put the dishes in the sink, he looked so out of place. And he looked so uncomfortable. He hated being in the cabin where he didn't blend in. That's why he never stayed in for too long, but here he was still trying to take care of me. I felt like such an ass suddenly and I couldn't look at him. What was I doing?


	7. Gifts

Chapter seven:

I sat uncomfortably, looking down at the pile of papers on the coffee table while the t.v. hummed quietly in the background. I was so distinctly aware of the alien sitting nearby in the armchair, tinkering with a device. His tools were so much more high tech than the little dinky wrench and screwdriver I was able to dig out of the garage a few days ago. I wanted to watch him work, but I couldn't help but feel like I should leave him alone. Why was it so hard to breathe?

Movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to turn my head, looking up quickly at the tall being before looking back down just as fast, seeing he was handing me something. I cautiously took it. An antler? I glanced back over at the meat on the counter. Ah. 

"It's nice," I said, looking back up at him. "It's well preserved," I added, turning it this way and that. 

He let out a weird click, a more guttural one that I hadn't heard before, and then he went into the kitchen. I watched him for a moment, before looking back down at the antler. The closer I looked, the more I noticed little runes and designs etched into it. I was curious as to what they meant if they meant anything at all, and I smiled at it. The antler truly was beautiful and he seemed pretty proud of it. He soon sat back down and I gently set it on the coffee table. 

"This show is probably pretty boring to you," I commented, grabbing the remote. "Not sure how much of it you're understanding anyways, but uh let's look for something more actiony," I suggested, flipping through the channels until I recognized the first scene from the Avengers. "This should do, I guess," I said, setting the remote back down. 

The further into the show, the more into it the alien became. He seemed to ignore it for the most part, in the beginning, focusing on his work, but the more action involved scenes intrigued him and he soon abandoned his project entirely. When the CGI aliens came on screen, he clicked and chirped sharply, cocking his head to the side, before abruptly turning to me.

"Oh, they're not real," I said quickly. "They're CGI, meaning uh... they're put into the movie after," I said slowly. "Programmed in."

He turned back to the screen, apparently satisfied with my answer, clicking a few more times quietly. His body tensed whenever someone mentioned how bad or gross the aliens were and I felt bad again. He'd never be able to fit in here. Feeling exhausted from the day, I laid down on the couch, pulling the blanket off the back part of it, too tired to even make it to my room apparently. Once the Avengers ended and another movie came on, he went back to tinkering on his device and I tried to stay awake for as long as I could, but apparently, I'd fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, I was jolting awake and it was morning.

I stiffly sat up, wincing in pain when my leg shifted off the pillow I was using to support my ankle. Dry mouth, I awkwardly grabbed my crutches from nearby and hefted myself to my feet. My guest was no where to be seen, so I sleepily hobbled to the bathroom first. After almost falling asleep there, I got up to wash my hands and paused upon seeing my reflection. I knew I usually looked like shit, but this was just taking it to a whole new meaning. The bags under my eyes weren't as bad as they had been lately, but I still looked incredibly tired. I ran my hand over the small amount of stubble bothering my face and decided to shave it off. 

As soon as I emerged from the bathroom, I stumbled, catching my crutch on the corner of the door and falling into the opposite wall. Grumbling to myself, I snatched my crutch up from the floor and continued on into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and maybe some fruit or something. I paused as I entered the main area of the cabin, where the kitchen was visible on the right and the living room was visible on the left. Now that my laptop wasn't blocking it, I finally saw the deer skull sitting on the coffee table. I hobbled over and picked it up. 

Much like the antler, it was covered in detailed runes and complex designs and I had to revel at the sight. How long had he spent on this? It was admittedly a little morbid, but there was just something so graceful about it, so I put it on the mantle right below the t.v. Standing back, I smiled a little at it and nodded. Suddenly the door swung open and I turned to look at the alien, who looked first at me, then at the skull and froze.

"Oh, sorry," I said, nervous. "Should I not have put it up there?"

He stared at it for a few more seconds, before turning suddenly and heading into the kitchen. I followed suit, much slower of course, and headed to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. I could tell he was watching my every movement, but I tried my best to ignore it, practically downing the entire bottle. I made a face, the water hurting my dry throat, and looked at the coffee maker. What the hell was I doing? I always made coffee... I looked up at the alien who was currently in my way of making said coffee. He leaned in a little bit and my cheeks warmed slightly. With the mask, I was having a hell of a time trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"Stink..." he said slowly.

My face relaxed, eyebrow quirking. 

"Are you trying to say I stink?" I asked, trying my best to hold back a laugh now.

He nodded and I couldn't help but guffaw, holding my sides.

"Awfully bold coming from someone who smells like-- well uh actually why do you smell good?" I asked, after leaning in myself and taking a whiff.

"Bathe."

I looked at him for a moment, as if trying to figure out if he was serious. Huffing, I waved him out of the way and proceeded to make a pot of coffee.

"I bathe," I mocked, shrugging my shoulders. I grumbled more under my breath while I waited for the coffee to finish and made myself a cup. Turning not so gracefully towards him, cup in hand, I gestured to the bathroom. "You gunna help me?" I asked sarcastically.

I wasn't exactly expecting him to agree, swiping me off my feet and heading into the bathroom. I tried not to spill my coffee while dropping my crutch and as soon as we were in the bathroom, he set me on the side of the tub.

"Uh... great. Can this thing get wet?" I asked, pointing to the device wrapped around my ankle.

He nodded and whipped out of the bathroom, soon returning with a chair.

"You're awfully prepared for this," I murmured, squinting at him. "How long have you been wanting this to happen?" I asked, mostly teasingly. 

My guest clicked quietly as he helped me into the chair. I set the coffee down on the counter nearby and before I knew it, long fingers equipped with sharp claws were sliding up my shirt, lifting it up over my chest. I panicked and yanked it back down, breath sharp and shallow.

"Th-that's fine, I can do that part," I said quickly and maybe a little more forcefully than I meant to.


	8. A Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone for not posting sooner. Chronic health issues + medication = struggling.

Chapter eight:

I'm not sure how long the hot water was running over me, but eventually my hair and body were clean. Even after all that, I sat under the shower head, just enjoying the water. I had a hard time looking down at my chest, eyes practically glazing over any time I had to tilt my head down for whatever reason. I didn't really want to move, but my leg started pulsing in protest from not being elevated, so I finally turned off the water. I thought unwillingly about the alien nearly taking my shirt off and shivered harshly. Of course it wouldn't be weird for him; he's a guy and I'm a guy, so it shouldn't be weird... right?

I scoffed under my breath, just shaking my head. Idiot... 

Using my surroundings for support, I pulled on my old clothes and heaved myself out of the bathroom, flipping my hair back out of my face. Of course my crutches were still in the kitchen, but I managed to stumble into my room. Clothes... Finding clean clothes was a feat, let alone dressing for a second time. By the time I finished, tossing dirty clothes in an overflowing basket, I wanted to take a nap. 

Against my better judgement, I listened to my rumbling tummy and hobbled into the main area of the cabin. Again, before I went into the kitchen, I saw a plate of food on the coffee table. I shouldn't be surprised, but something had to change. 

The floor creaked open several hours later and I looked over to see the alien place his plate in the sink.

"Hey, come over here for a second," I said, waving him over to the couch. 

He cocked his head to the side, but did just that and sat silently next to me.

“So… listen, you’ve been extraordinarily helpful, but I want you to know you don’t have to be. I don’t know if it's because I saved your life or what, but it’s fine, debt paid or whatever. I can tell you don’t like being inside,” I said slowly.

He sat, unmoving, for a good few minutes. Suddenly, he nodded shortly and stood up and exited the cabin, leaving my sitting in confusion. What… just happened? Pretty sure I’d just made things worse, but my phone started ringing, pulling me out of my head before I had a chance to drown.

“Hello?” I answered, still looking at the front door.

“Sebby baby!” squealed Ray from over the phone, causing me to pull it away from my face somewhat.

“Oh uh, hi, Ray,” I sputtered, looking down at my leg. “What’s up?”

“Just calling to say you need to get out of that stinky old cabin and come clubbing with me in Portland,” he said in a sing-song voice. 

“Clubbing? In Portland? First of all, that’s a two hour drive I definitely don’t want to take and uh… I’m just not in the mood right now, sorry Ray. Maybe some other time,” I said.

“Aaaw but Sebbyyyy,” he whined. “Julio wants to take us both out. And maybe you’ll find some hot new stud to fulfill your every desire,” he purred. 

“Very funny,” I mumbled, startled when an image of the alien popped into my head when he said stud. Like that’d ever happen. “Thanks for the offer Ray, but I think I just want to relax tonight.”

“Poo,” he pouted. “Fine, but get ready to hear all my juicy details in the morning!” he laughed.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Ray,” I responded, shaking my head and hanging up the phone. 

Although he invited me every time he went clubbing, I always denied the offer. Clubbing definitely wasn’t my scene and the strobe lights hurt my head too much. Plus I wasn’t looking to get roofied like last time.

Almost the entire day went by without a single hint he had even come by the house. It was already six at night and dinner was ready, but I wasn’t so sure he’d be coming inside to get it. Great, I really did offend him. I pulled out several tupperware containers to put away what I definitely wasn’t going to eat, but just as I turned around to set them on the counter, he was standing right there. I stumbled backward, catching myself before I fell.

“Oh my god,” I gasped, putting a hand to my chest. “Hi…” I murmured.

He cocked his head to the side somewhat.

“Uh… you missed lunch,” I added, motioning to the food I’d laid out. “I uh… dinner’s ready,” I said, silently cussing myself out for being so awkward.

“Thank you,” he said quite clearly just as I was turning around to grab plates.

“Yeah, no problem.”

I paused, then whipped around, catching myself on the counter. A deep chuckle rumbled from his throat.

“I fixed my helmet and by relation my communication device,” he explained, gesturing to his helmet.

I perked up at that. “That’s fantastic! Things will be at least a little easier,” I laughed quietly. “Oh er… do I finally get to know your name?”

“Kiriqi’ikinii.”

I sat there for a moment, mouth opening and closing. While I wanted to attempt it, I also didn’t want to sound like an idiot.

“That’s really cool, but can you say that a little… slower…”

Another low chuckle and he shook his head, dreads waving with his movement. “Call me Kiri.”

“I can sure do that,” I said with a nod. “Kiri,” I said testing it out. “You’ll have to write down your full name so I can practice it in private so you can’t make fun of me,” I added, turning back around and setting up his plate. “Oh, this means you have no reason not to give me a reason why you won’t eat with me.”

“Mm… you wouldn’t want me to,” Kiri answered, moving forward to help. “Humans are not fond of my species’... appearance.”

I looked him up and down, quirking an eyebrow. “Look, I’m not one to judge… and I especially tend not to judge people who have done me no wrong…”

Before I had a chance to tell him it would’ve been okay if he chose not to, he pulled at two tubes on either side of his face, air hissing out. Was it hard for him to breathe our air? Couldn’t blame him… as my brain started running at a miles a minute, trying to think of what the air on his planet was made of, he placed large, taloned hands on either side of the helmet, but paused. I cocked my head to the side somewhat and offered an encouraging smiling. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell he was staring right at me, intently. It must felt like ripping off a bandage to him because when his helmet was finally just sitting on the counter, his face was completely rigid, clear muscles tense and nervous. What looked like two sets of pincers forming a square around his mouth twitched and moved, unsure of where to settle themselves.

I sat there for a moment, just taking everything in. His whole head reminded me of a peacock spider, with the flourish and shape and I smiled a little at that. I saw his shoulders drop somewhat and air continued filtering through his lungs.

“I quite like your face,” I said finally, letting my smile shine even more. “It’s quite interesting and dare I say attractive.”

It was his turn to quirk an eyebrow at me, pincers twitching as a chuckle rumbled. 

“Never thought I’d hear a human say that,” he stuttered out. “It’s… harder to speak without my helmet, but I will adjust.”

I shrugged, grabbing my plate and glass of water before hobbling over to the couch. “I dunno, you should see my ex,” I snorted, setting everything down on the coffee table. “But I think it was his personality that made him ugly.”

It was easy to tell Kiri still felt uneasy being bare-headed around me, but nevertheless ate dinner in the living room with me. I put the t.v. on, but it ended up being mostly background noise as we talked about small things at first. The weather soon turned into his ship which then ended with his home planet.

“It’s hotter than here,” he said. “It’s quite cold here.”

“Yeah, it is almost fall after all,” I commented, glancing outside. “It’ll just get colder.”

“I’m hoping to finish the ship before it starts… er whats the word… cold… rain,” he murmured, furrowing his brow.

“Snowing,” I answered. “Yeah I have no idea what I’m going to do for the winter. This pathetic shack definitely wasn’t made for cold weather,” I sighed, shaking my head as I picked at the corn on my plate. 

“I figured this wasn’t your permanent residence. You don’t have many personal effects,” Kiri added, glancing around. 

“Ha, yeah well, I now have two very thoughtful presents from you so I guess I’m staking my claim,” I chuckled, motioning to the skull and antler sitting on the fireplace mantle.

I saw him glance at them, then quickly look down at his face, pincers twitching again.

“So uh… are those common gifts for you guys? I mean, my brother collects stuff like that, too, but I’d never really looked at them that closely before. They’re pretty,” I added with a smile.

“Yes, they are common, however… what we have on our planet is much bigger,” he said slowly, not looking up at me. “When someone gives another the skull of a large predator they killed, its a sign of courtship. Like saying they can protect them,” he added, finally looking up at me.

“Wow. Intense,” I said playfully, looking back over at the presents. “And the markings?”

“Just decoration,” he spat out, standing suddenly. “Are you done?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess,” I murmured, handing him the plate. “Yknow, I wasn’t expecting you to do stuff like this,” I said, watching him enter the kitchen.”

“Domestics? How uncivilized do you think I am,” he snorted, shaking his head.

“Well no, it’s not, I just didn’t know if it was even relatively similar on your planet. It’s not like I’ve been before,” I countered. 

Kiri chuckled again. It warmed my chest a little to think about how much he was relaxing around me. I will openly admit it was a relief to be able to talk so easily with him. No miscommunication.

“To be perfectly honest, I could be a little better at this sort of thing,” he said, setting the plate in the sink and letting water run on it. “We don’t typically have a life long mate like humans… try to do,” he said slowly. “So we are expected to keep our own and who likes a sloppy mate?” he snorted.

I briefly thought back to my ex and tried not to face-palm. “Yeah… how come you don’t… have those kinds of mates?”

“It’s entirely up the women,” he answered, turning around and leaning against the counter. “Most of the women don’t care for their own young, the men do. And the women want to breed with the strongest male. Makes sense, I guess… some do pair for life, especially the royalty. The king we have now is the first not to take more than one mate,” he added. 

“Do you know why that is?”

He did what I couldn’t only assume was supposed to be a grin. 

“The Queen is scarier than any other on our planet. He wouldn’t dare.”


	9. Cats out of the Bag

My eyes outright refused to open as my alarm went off on my phone. An alarm I had forgotten to turn off. I slapped my hand down on the nightstand and shuffled around until I found the annoying device and switched the alarm off. Ugh. It's not like I stayed up all night, but any sort of restful sleep was nowhere to be found. The broken ankle surely wasn’t helpful, but my true problem laid in my head. Everytime I ventured anywhere near a dream-like state, my heart started hammering and I was wide awake, panic rolling through my body. I woke up feeling just as tired as I went to bed, but that never stopped me before. 

It took a hot second to find the will to get dressed, but soon I was hobbling into the main area of the cabin, pausing to see a plate of warm food on the coffee table. I glanced out the windows, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of Kiri, but then the door to the bathroom behind me suddenly opened and I jumped, not so gracefully falling to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Kiri asked as I laid on the floor, eyes closed.

“I’m fine…” I mumbled. “Just leave me down here.”

“Right.. You are very jumpy,” he commented and suddenly there was a hand sliding underneath my back and an arm hooking under my knees.

“And you don’t take direction very well,” I sighed, finally opening my eyes to look up at him. 

He was wearing his mask again, but this close I could see more detail in his features around the helmet and I felt the urge to touch him. Lowering my head quickly, hoping my reddened face wasn’t as obvious as it felt, I let him set me down on the couch, sitting upright.

“I’ve been told this before,” he admitted, sitting down in the chair beside the couch. “I’ve already eaten. You rise slowly.”

“Yeah, sleeping isn’t really a strong suit of mine,” I snorted, adjusting my shirt before laying eyes on the mug of what I hoped to be coffee. “You figured out the coffee machine?”

“It wasn’t particularly difficult and I definitely didn’t waste any grounds trying to learn,” he said quickly. “What is that white stuff you put in it?”

“Milk. Makes it less bitter. Kind of,” I grumbled, taking a sip. Without any sort of guidance, it actually wasn’t that bad. Ray still hasn’t figured out how I like my coffee and I’ve been working with him for months. “It’s good.”

Apparently satisfied with that, he leaned back somewhat in his seat and picked up the device he’d been working on earlier.

“I need to call out of work now so Ray doesn’t have a panic attack,” I mumbled, taking my phone from my pocket and getting his contact. 

I looked down at my ankle and pondered what exactly to say. It's true I wouldn’t have gone to our little doctor’s office for a broken ankle, but he had plenty of friends over at the nearby emergency room. I’m sure he had friends at every hospital in the state considering his tendency to pick up extra shifts all over the place. Heaving a deep sigh, I pressed the button to call and jumped when he picked up almost instantly.

“We must be connected telepathically,” Ray laughed. “I was just about to call you!”

“Oh? Why were you going to call me?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“To see how you were doing of course!” he exclaimed. “You said you weren’t feeling well yesterday.”

“Ah, well… to be honest, I’m still not doing well,” I admitted. “I broke my ankle yesterday and I won’t be able to come into work today.”

A sharp gasp had me pulling the phone away from my face and Kiri looked up at me.

“Sebby! You need to come to the hospital!” Ray gasped.

“It’s fine, I already did. The ambulance took me to some random one, I don’t even remember the name,” I snorted, tapping my uninjured foot nervously. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I’ll have to come over after my shift to bring some groceries then,” Ray decided.

“No, no, it’s fine, really. I’m all stocked up on food and I’m more than capable of functioning like this,” I insisted, casting a worried glance toward my alien friend.

Ray was weirdly quiet on the other side before I heard a defeated sigh from his end. “Fine… but you call me if you need anything okay? I would be honored to give you a sponge bath!”

I barked out some laughter, honestly caught off guard by such a statement, no matter how like Ray it was. “Yeah, I’ll give you a call if I need a sponge bath and only that, Ray,” I chuckled, hanging up the phone afterward.

“A sponge bath?” Kiri repeated, unsure.

“Yeah… it was a joke,” I reassured him, still feeling quite jovial. “Ray got really sick a few months ago and couldn’t even bathe himself so I gave him a sponge bath twice and he’s been wanting to return the favor,” I snorted, taking a sip of my coffee.

“Ah… but I could give you one if you wanted,” Kiri responded as casually as ever.

I sputtered, choking on my coffee. “I-it’s fine, it was a joke,” I coughed, wiping my face off with my hand as I set the cup down.

“How is your leg actually,” the larger man inquired, leaning back against his seat.

“It’s fine, really,” I answered, pulling said leg up to rest on the couch. “I’m more interested in learning about your medicine,” I admitted, studying the brace.

“I don’t have extensive knowledge about how it all works,” he sighed. “I know enough to know how to stay alive.”

“It’s still quite incredible,” I responded, running my hand along the latex-like material suctioned to my leg.

I could feel Kiri’s gaze on me, so I looked up in time to see him look down at the device in his hand.

“I… need to work on the ship some more. Are you going to be all right on your own?” he inquired, standing now and grabbing his helmet.

“Oh definitely,” I laughed, grabbing my laptop from the coffee table. “I have my work and my coffee so I’ll be set for a few hours at least,” I added with a grin.

His face softened somewhat and he lightly touched the top of my head as he passed by to leave. As startled as I was by that action, I was more startled at how flustered I became from it. I could feel my cheeks heating up already and I just covered my face with my hands as soon as he was gone. Idiot…

It was barely past 5 p.m. and I had just started dinner when there was a knock on the door. A bolt of panic ran through my chest, but I quelled it and hobbled over to the door.

“R-Ray?” I sputtered, blinking at him in confusion.

“Hello! I had to make sure you were really okay, silly,” he laughed, holding up a bag from the nearby grocery store. “And I brought the necessities.”

Just then, Ray looked down at my foot and I saw him stagger backward somewhat.

“What in the actual fuck is that?” he sputtered, eyes wide.

“Uh…” This was a really bad time to be at a loss for words. No easy solution was coming to mind and I was panicking.

“Seb, what the fuck is going on?” he demanded, looking back up at me. 

I tried to keep my eyes on Ray, but I saw the barest hint of movement behind him, off in the woods, and knew it had to be Kiri. Apparently, I’m not that great at hiding my panic as Ray furrowed his brow and started to turn around.

“It’s a new device we’re trying out!” I quickly sputtered. “Uh come on in! I was just starting dinner!”

I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the cabin and Ray immediately spotted the pile of meat on the counter.

“Seb… that’s a lot of food,” he said slowly, dragging his gaze back over to me, concern clear on his face. “How’d you say you broke your ankle again?”

“Uh well…” My eyes flickered to the movement behind Ray again and I saw Kiri outside the window and snapped my mouth shut. 

Ray caught the look once again and spun around just as Kiri moved out of view. The nurse squinted at the window, then turned back to me, clearly pissed off. He then turned back around, dropping the bag on the floor and stormed outside.

“Ray?” I called out, hobbling after him.

“Oh my fucking god, he’s out here, isn’t here?” Ray snapped, tearing the door open and jumping outside. 

“H-He?” I repeated.

“Don’t play dumb! It’s that piece of shit you said you were done with!” he yelled, looking around outside wildly, before starting for the backyard.

“Ray!” I called out fruitlessly, struggling to keep up with him, using the side of the cabin for support. 

I watched him round the corner, heartbeat pounding mercilessly in my ears and I tried to reach out and grab him.

“Ray you have to stop!” I yelled, tears pricking my eyes.

“No! You can’t let him do this to you! That monster has to be fucking arrested,” Ray snapped, shrugging my hands off him as he started at a run around the next corner. 

I couldn’t keep up with him, but it turns out the game was over anyways. As soon I caught up with them, my whole body went cold.


	10. Understanding

I flinched as Ray’s car door slammed shut and I couldn’t seem to force myself to turn around and see him go. I didn’t even hear Kiri speak until he was right in front of me, grasping my shoulders.

“Your leg, doctor…”

“Huh?”

I finally looked up at him, head swimming. It was hard to get my eyes to focus, but then Kiri cocked his head to the side, pincers moving somewhat.

“Your leg… you were moving hard on it,” he explained softly.

“Yeah… no, it’s… I’m fine,” I mumbled, finally turning towards the house. “My leg isn’t really my biggest concern right now.”

“It’s /my/ biggest concern,” he snorted, thumbs stroking my shoulders. “Let’s go inside, it’s chilly out here.”

I let out a defeated sigh and let him guide me in through the back door. I hobbled into the kitchen, the pain from my ankle hard to ignore now. I didn’t realize I’d pushed myself so hard.

“Let me finish dinner,” Kiri intercepted, blocking me from entering. “Go sit down on the couch.”

“Kiri… I’m scared,” I admitted, eyebrows furrowed up. 

“I will protect you from whatever happens,” he reassured. “Go on…”

I dropped kind of hard onto the couch, finally letting my ankle rest on a pillow, elevated. Kiri wasn’t too fond I didn’t eat much for dinner, but I was trying to distract myself with anything else. Just as Kiri stood to take my half cleared plate, there was a knock on the front door. We both tensed and I pointed towards my bedroom. Although I could tell he wasn’t fond of that idea, he set the plates down on the coffee table and slipped away. I couldn’t stop my hand from shaking as I pulled open the door and blinked at Ray, who was looking down at his feet, hand in his pockets.

“R-Ray?” I sputtered.

“I’m sorry…” he mumbled. “For acting like that. But you better give me an explanation,” he finished, looking up at me now.

“O-Of course,” I stuttered, moving out of the way for him to come in. “Uh… Kiri, come on out!”

I shut the front door as Ray came in, stiff as a board. He snapped his head towards the bedroom as Kiri came out, also quite tense.

“Maybe… some wine,” I muttered, hobbling into the kitchen as Kiri ventured a little further out, though kept a respectful distance from Ray. 

I could tell he was trying to make himself smaller while also having too much pride to do so. I appreciated him so much. Moments later and Kiri was in his chair in the living room. I was to his left, sitting on the couch and Ray was to my right, holding his wine glass with two hands.

“I trust you, Seb…” Ray started. “But this is… a bit much.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said quickly. “It was a lot for me, too, when I first met Kiri, but I promise you he’s been amazing to me.”

“Is he.. Uh… what…?”

“He crash landed here, on Earth,” I explained. “It’s right out in the backyard. I found him, stitched him up and he basically became a stray cat running around,” I laughed, trying to ease the tension.

I saw Kiri shake his head out of the corner of my eye and heard a low chuckle. 

“Humans like cats more, I think,” he snorted.

I offered him a playful quirked eyebrow, but then Ray sighed.

“So he… didn’t break your ankle?” he murmured.

“Oh definitely not,” I answered, turning back around. “He’s actually the one who put this on me. I think it’s actually healing me.”

“The doctor is quite clutzy,” Kiri grumbled. “It’s a miracle he isn’t dead yet.”

“Hey,” I whined, pouting.

Ray laughed at that, finally taking a sip of his wine. “Cheers to that,” he chuckled. “I just… I want to make sure you’re safe, Sebby. You are my favorite doctor after all,” he teased, ruffling my hair.

“Eugh, yeah whatever,” I grumbled, swatting his hand away. 

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” I inquired, watching as Ray flipped on his scarf and button his coat.

“Oh please darling, one glass of wine couldn’t hurt a fly,” he snorted. He leaned in close to me suddenly so Kiri couldn’t hear. “He’s a keeper if I've ever seen one.”

With that, the eccentric nurse turned and left, calling out something about coming back with groceries, but I was too focused on his previous statement, cheeks burning hot. A keeper, huh? I glanced over at Kiri who was just turning around to finish the dishes and I wondered if he’d seen me blush. Of course, that only made my face hotter, so I trudged over to the couch and flopped back down. 

After Kiri turned the sink off, the only thing I could hear was the light clacking of his claws on the kitchen floor and the heavy downpouring outside. It was dark out, but I knew it had to be pretty bad outside with all the wind.

“Hey…”

“I’m told that is for horses.”

I jolted with the laughter that suddenly erupted from my chest, caught way off guard.

“Where the hell did you hear that?”

“The television,” he admitted, coming over to stand by the couch, looking down at me.

I wiped my eyes, feeling them tear up a bit from the laughter. “Oh my god… ah, anyways, I just wanted to say you’re more than welcome to sleep inside. Not just tonight,” I added, looking up at him. He was closer than I previously thought and I tried to ignore the heat creeping into my cheeks.

“Hmm… fine,” he agreed, turning away. “Do you need assistance standing?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” I reassured him, stumbling a little bit as I climbed to my feet. I saw his body tense and I shot him a playful look. “One glass of wine isn’t a lot for me either, yknow.”

“Hmm… that remains to be seen. You’re quite giggly,” Kiri countered, staying near me as I shuffled down the hall. 

I bumped right into the larger man, trying to turn into the guest bedroom. He looked down at me, confused.

“I’m not staying with you?”

I looked up at him, startled, face definitely red. “W-Why with me?”

“I had a feeling I should,” he answered, glancing back towards the front door.

I furrowed my brows at that. I thought maybe he was tense about Ray, but something else was definitely bothering him. Did he think Ray would do something to betray us or was it a different concern?

“Sure, I don’t mind,” I found myself saying before I’d even realized it. 

I turned and slipped into my room instead. I watched him glance around the room with uncertainty.

“You keep the rest of the home so neat,” Kiri commented, looking down at me finally.

“Ugh yeah, just ignore it,” I sighed, shuffling over to the bed and trying to fix it up as much as I could.

I noticed Kiri move over to the large sliding glass doors that showcased the backyard. He fidgeted with the lock, then pulled the drapes closed, glancing outside once more before returning to the bed. I shifted over to my usual side of the bed, closest to the glass doors, but then Kiri put a hand out.

“It’d be safer for you on the inner side,” he explained when I looked up at him questioningly. 

It was pretty much impossible to tell if he was kidding, so I shrugged and rolled over to the other side. This room was probably the coldest in the house, which was great in the summer but terrible in the fall. I shivered harshly, finding the pillow I kept under the covers at the bottom of the bed and propped up my ankle, pulling the blankets up over my chin. Just as I was settling onto my side, Kiri was finally climbing into bed. He was so much bigger than I anticipated so I was quite close. Who needs blankets when my cursed cheeks were enough to heat the whole room? I scooched back a little bit, but then realized he was actually pretty warm so I stayed relatively close.

“Do you think your friend will tell the authorities?” he mumbled suddenly and I looked up at him.

“Ray? Nah, I don’t think so… He came back and didn’t run off screaming so I think we’re good. He’s a pretty good guy,” I laughed.

Kiri returned my gaze. It was so dark in the room, but the bare amount of moonlight that reached through the clouds cast quite the shadow over his whole being. It would have been terrifying to anyone else, but I felt strangely comforted. 

“You’re good,” Kiri murmured, reaching up to lightly pat my head.


	11. Mine

You know how sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and you feel completely rested, unaware that you’ve barely slept a handful of hours? This definitely wasn’t one of those times. Fatigue gripped me, but my heart was pounding in my ears, an annoying nausea settling in my stomach. I curled my hand into a fist, fingers gliding against something that definitely wasn’t my blanket. And my head was on something that definitely wasn’t a pillow. I slowly looked up to see Kiri’s face not far from my own, eyes closed and pincers tucked in, one of them twitching every so often. I’d apparently curled up to him sometime in my sleep, head and hand resting on his chest. I wanted to move away, but the cold kept me there. And maybe something else. 

I rested my head back down on his chest, swallowing painfully. It’s not often I had actual dreams, none that I remembered anyways. Most of the time, the only thing playing through my head were memories, though I suppose they could be called nightmares, too. I furrowed my brow and scooched a little closer to Kiri, feeling the panic climb up again. I jumped a little as a large hand found my back and tentatively rubbed it.

“S-Sorry,” I mumbled, starting to back off. 

“It’s fine,” Kiri mumbled, voice thick and low. “You were sleeping poorly so I was the one to pull you close.”

“Ah… thank you,” I sighed, shifting my leg. 

My ankle didn’t hurt nearly as bad as earlier, but it was still annoying. I suddenly noticed how quiet it was and had to wonder if the storm was over. The moonlight pierced through the blinds, lighting up the room a little better. My heart was so slow and everything felt so calm finally. I let my eyes slide shut, feeling relaxed for the first time in a while.

I tensed, my phone buzzing loudly on the nightstand behind me. I left out an annoyed sigh, not even wanting to deal with anyone. There’s no way it was anyone important, probably some stupid spam call. They were annoying enough during the day, they didn’t need to bother people at night, too. I shifted so I wasn’t laying on top of my arm anymore, but then I wasn’t as close to Kiri as before. It’d been a long time since I’d laid near someone like this and I think I forgot how it worked.

“Are you comfortable?” Kiri inquired after I’d finally settled down for the moment.

My ears warmed and I cleared my throat.

“Yeah… you?”

“Very,” he murmured, hand still on my back. “I know it’s late, but… who was Ray talking about when he was trying to find me?” 

I tensed. I was hoping he wouldn’t have remembered that.

“It’s… hard to talk about,” I all but whispered, unable to actually find my voice for a while.

“I can tell…” The silence that followed was so tense and uncomfortable. I wanted to say something, but then Kiri continued: “Is he currently a threat to you?”

“I don’t… think so,” I answered, pulling the blanket up closer to my face. “I don’t know.”

He hooked his hand so it was on my side and gently squeezed, pulling me even closer. My body was now flush to his side, but by no means was I being held there.

“What did he do to you?”

I flinched, like just his words were an assault. I worked so hard, every day, every minute to not think about what Justin did to me, but just like that and it was all back. A loud crack outside jumped me harshly and I started shaking.

“Sebastian.”

That stole my attention. I looked up at him, eyes widening somewhat. He’d never said my name before, and definitely not with that tone of voice. It wasn’t harsh at all. It was hard to say exactly what it was, but it made my heart race and flutter. A clawed hand rested on my cheek and suddenly I noticed he was breathing a little heavier, too.

“I will protect you with my life.”

My mouth opened to say something, probably to protest, but all I could do was sit there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open, unsure of what to actually say. I sputtered for a solid thirty seconds.

“Y-You don’t have to do that,” I countered, mentally slapping myself for saying something so stupid. 

“I want to.”

Stop saying things with so much confidence! He was so set in his stance I wanted to scream, but instead I felt tears welling up. 

“I don’t know what I’d do if he hurt you,” I whimpered.

His brow quirked, an almost amused look on his face. “Forgive me for finding this so… amusing. To think a human cowardly enough to abuse another, one I’m guessing smaller than he, could ever hurt me? Laughable.”

Although just the thought of him possibly being hurt because of me was dizzying, I had to appreciate his knack at making everything sound okay. He cocked his head to the side, a series of clicks and guttural purring erupting from his throat and I blinked up at him. What he just said sounded intense, added on just by the way he was looking at me. How did I get here? And how do I get there?

The phone started buzzing again and I saw his eyes flicker to it for just a moment before returning to me. I grumbled under my breath, both wishing to destroy the damn thing but also a little appreciative it brought a decent enough distraction. I had some things to figure out before I just let my body act on its own. I leaned over my side of the bed to where the phone fell on the floor from the vibrations and felt him hold onto my shirt to steady me. Oh fuck.

I immediately unlocked my phone, eyes barely registering the many missed calls and texts from Ray and went right to calling him back.

“Ray? What’s going on?”

“Fuck Seb, finally!” he exclaimed and I heard him take a drag of a cigarette. He told he quit, the little shit. “Justin was just at the hospital.”

I nearly dropped the phone, everything else leaving my head. Suddenly it was like nothing but this conversation existed.

“H-How… how do you know that?”

“Cindy, Dr. Heiler’s nurse texted me not too long ago. No one told him anything, don’t worry about that, but he’s here in town,” he continued, taking another drag.

I heard my own shaky breath and I adjusted the phone so it wasn’t overloading the receiver. 

“Does Kiri know about the fucker?” Ray growled.

“Not quite…” I answered dazedly. 

“I’d much rather you be here with me, Seb, but at least tell Kiri what’s going on. He looks strong enough.” Another drag.

“Yeah…” I murmured.

“Seb?”

“... yeah?” I responded, eyes unfocusing.

“You gotta breathe dude, please.”

“Sure…”

I hung up the phone and shakily set it on the nightstand, though missed as it clattered to the floor. Kiri gave a small tug on my shirt and I hunched my shoulders, startled.

“Did I hear Ray right?” he asked, pulling me back onto the bed. “The man is here?”

“Yeah…” I said, trying to sort any of the thousand thoughts in my head. I was too focused on that to figure out how to move my body, too.

Kiri pulled me closer to him, making sure I was facing him before leaning so we were eye level. 

“Sebastian. You are mine to protect.”


	12. Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyo everyone! I just really wanted to address everyones comments at once: THANK YOU SO MUCH AAAAAH
> 
> Yall really dont understand the DRIVE comments give me!!! I have ADHD AND autism so sometimes my special interest isn't writing. Lately I've been writing and planning A LOT. I have quite a few chapters written out so expect an update once a week for at least two months lol 
> 
> It makes me tear up a little bit with pride with all the people interacting with this story. like most of my fanfics, it started off as an excuse for me to be thirsty on main, but while I struggle to write my novel, this gives me something to write that I don't have to stress out too much about. 
> 
> srsly tho, keep commenting, sharing and liking and know that all of it is forever appreciated. drawing (which is my main special interest) has actually been pretty difficult for me lately, but I did get a chance to post a tiktok of sketches of Seb and Ray! Go check it out and stay tuned for some full blown pieces of those two goobers
> 
> Tiktok: longlivethereaper

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the phone call until the cheery sound of my phone’s alarm went off. An alarm I still hadn’t turned off. As cheery as it was, it still jumped me pretty hard and I felt Kiri’s arm tighten around me.

“Did you sleep?” he inquired.

I looked up at the minimal streams of sunrise coming in through the breaks in the blinds. My eyes burned with contempt at my refusal to sleep, but I tried to blink it away anyways.

“No…”

His grip relaxed somewhat and rested his head back on the pillow.

“Are you going to contact your workplace?” he continued.

“Ray said he’d call them…” I mumbled. 

I wanted to get up, to move, to go about my day like usual but it was like a 100 pound weight was settled in my chest. The thought of actually moving seemed impossible and, to be honest, not quite worth it. 

“You need to eat something… Everything is normal until it isn’t.”

I looked up at him then, disbelief written clear across my face. “Is it?”

Kiri turned his head to look down at me, small eyes squinting for a second. 

“Do you think this is something I cannot handle? Still?”

I didn’t like the disbelief on his own face, so I looked away. Did I think that? It wasn’t a question of whether Kiri was stronger than Justin or not. That was an obvious answer. I was struggling more with was I worth more than Kiri. Because that was really the problem, wasn’t it? Was I worth Kiri putting himself in harm’s way just to protect me? Maybe I shouldn’t have run away.

“Why do you want to protect me so badly?” I grumbled, starting to pull away.

Kiri’s hand held steadfast against my back, but soon let up when he realized I wasn’t going to stop. I could feel his gaze on me. I could always feel his gaze on me. What was I doing?

“You’ve become important to me… and you are a good person, worthy of protection.”

I snapped my head towards him. I’m not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the constant overwhelming panic that had been gripping me ever since I left Justin, but I couldn’t keep myself from snapping at the one person most invested in protecting me.

“So much so that you’d put yourself in harm's way for me?”

Kiri sat up then, shoulders settling back so he was sitting up straight and tall, brow furrowed down. Resolve. My phone started ringing before either of us could do anything, so I grabbed it from the floor and answered.

“Sebastian? It’s Dr. Trey.”

“Ah, good morning sir,” I greeted, clearing my throat. “I’m sorry for not being able to come in.”

“It’s quite all right,” he reassured, voice soft as ever. “Ray filled me in on the situation and he’s been banned from the premises. Even if your ankle wasn't broken, it wouldn’t be fair to make you come in.”

“I really appreciate that, Dr. Trey,” I sighed a breath of relief. 

My attention flickered to the bed shifting under Kiri’s weight as he stood and left the room, grabbing the armor he’d discarded on my desk chair the previous night. He didn’t look at me as he disappeared out of sight and I flopped back down into bed. 

“We’ll keep you in the loop if anything happens. You’re somewhere safe, right? Ray told me you bought a dog from the kennel to keep you safe?”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “Kiri. A big ole… German Shepard,” I responded, face softening somewhat. 

“That’s good. Well, call any time if you need something. I will be meeting with a few of your patients, so thank you for updating their charts and have a good day.”

“You, too, sir,” I said, letting Dr. Trey hang up first before setting the phone on my desk. 

I rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. Why was I always pushing people away? I let my gaze fall to the side, to the messy floor and grumbled. This had to stop. Suddenly, I sat up, clapping my hands. Kiri was right. Everything had to be normal for now, including me. I was better than this. 

I swung my legs off the bed and, with some actual pep, made my way into the bathroom. After relieving myself, I was washing my hands when I looked up into the mirror, at myself. It’d been a long time since I stopped shaving for a few days and I wasn’t too fond of it. It was itchy, frankly, and it made me think of--

No. He wasn’t allowed here anymore. I huffed, running my hands through the mess that was my hair. As often as he was trying to cut off my hair, it was a miracle I was able to grow it out this long. My one act of defiance. Now settling just passed my shoulder blades, I needed to figure out a good way to keep my hair out of the way. My sister’s hair was always short, so I couldn’t really use her as an example, but my brother also kept his hair pretty long. He didn’t used to. He kept it pretty short until he came out as transgender and started growing it out. He said he thought he had to keep it short because he wanted to be seen as a guy, but then his boyfriend started growing his hair out in support. I stopped fussing with my hair for a minute, pondering where he even was right then. It’d been a few years since I’d spoken to him last and he was about to move to New York from our home state, Maine. Said something about needing to get away. Maybe I should call him… 

I brought myself back to the problem at hand and rifled my hands through my hair. Having showered just yesterday, it wasn’t as greasy as I feared, but it definitely needed to be brushed. By the time I finished messing around, trying out different hairstyles, I decided on a loose braid, tucking long strands behind my ears. Satisfied finally, I went to work shaving my face. I’d become quite good at it, though I had a hard time teaching my brother. He was so damn fidgety and it was muscle memory to me by then, so trying to explain it was pretty hellish. A clean, fresh face. Clean teeth. Hell, I even clipped in the barrette my brother bought me some years ago, a long, thin black one with a small ruby on the end. 

It was hard not to feel a little better, the grime of the past few weeks had been brushed off and I could look forward to things again. Maybe once my ankle was better, I could drag Roy, Kiri and hell even one of Roy’s boy toys to the lake for some actual fun. 

I slipped out of the bathroom, trying not to fidget with my hair too much. Just as I was about to call out something about the coffee maker, a large hand clamped over my mouth, snapping my head backward.


	13. Confusion

I couldn’t seem to focus on anything, eyes blurry as I stared at the floor. I wasn’t even sure what time it was or the day to be honest. My ears were still ringing from the gun shots, so it couldn’t be too long ago from…

“Seb?”

I forced my eyes up to see Ray standing in front of me, leaning over somewhat. He had two fingers to my neck, but he dropped those quickly enough once I moved. 

“Your heart beats really slow…” he murmured. “And you’re crying.”

“I…” My voice sounded foreign and it was a struggle just to keep my head up. 

Ray sat up straight, jaw clenching. “Justin was here, wasn’t he?”

I nodded somewhat, leaning back against the couch. I could feel the dried tears sticking to my cheeks and I grimaced.

“Oh fuck, Seb… are you okay? You’ve got a busted lip, but it doesn’t look like you’re hurt anywhere else,” he murmured, kneeling down in front of me to better check. “What’s this green stuff?”

“I’m fine…” I breathed, eyes focusing on the splatter of green across my shirt. “Kiri… dealt with him.”

“Dealt?” Ray repeated, freezing somewhat, eyes wide.

“Broke his arms,” I mumbled. I couldn’t move my arms.

Ray opened his mouth to say something, but paused, closing his mouth again. The nurse glanced around. “Is Kiri okay?”

My eyes unfocused again as they filled with tears and I hiccuped pathetically, bringing my hands up to cover my face. Stop. I heard Ray stand and start moving quickly through the house. He disappeared down the hall, presumably into my bedroom and I cried harder. 

“Sebastian?!” Ray called out, running back into the main area of the cabin. “Seb where the fuck is he?”

“Away,” I sobbed. I knew I was only smearing Kiri’s blood all over my face, but I didn’t care.

“You’re not making any sense,” Ray snapped, coming back over and grabbing my arms. “Seb I need you to focus. Where is he?”

“He got shot,” I whimpered. “It’s all my fault.”

I felt Ray’s grip loosen, but not let up all together. 

“Shot?” he whispered.

I hiccuped and sobbed more, having a hard time catching my breath. There was just so much blood.

Ray stood up and I could tell he didn’t know what to do with himself either. I fell to the side and curled up on the couch, shaking and sobbing. I couldn’t do anything. I just… I just let it happen. 

Ray’s POV

The amount of green stuff in Sebastian’s room was overwhelming. It seemed pretty localized to one side of the bed, and there was a small splatter of blood on the wall opposite the bed. Whatever the green stuff was had to belong to Kiri. 

“Sebastian?!” I called out, turning and running back into the living room. “Seb where the fuck is he?”

“Away,” Sebastian sobbed, hands covering his face. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, but he was only succeeding in smearing his face with that green stuff. He was splattered in it, hands covered.

I was growing frustrated with the lack of information and possible emergency, but I was having a hard time quelling it.

“You’re not making any sense,” I snapped, squatting down in front of him and grabbing his arms. “Seb, I need you to focus. Where is he?”

I knew Sebastian was on the softer side of everything, but I’d seen him in the emergency room before. He was good under pressure and stress, so something really bad must have happened for him to be breaking down like this.

“He got shot,” he whimpered. “It’s all my fault.”

My blood went cold. “Shot?”

I stood as Sebastian continued to lose it, falling over onto his side and curling up in a ball. Shot… I looked down at all the splatter on Sebastian and had to turn my head away. He must have been behind the alien when it happened and by the amount on his hands, must have tried to stitch him up. I wasn’t going to get any helpful information out of this guy, so I turned and went back into the bedroom. If Justin and Kiri had had an altercation and he let Justin live, there’s no way Justin wouldn’t be going to the police right now… Broken arms… I shuddered at the thought of Sebastian witnessing that. I was right in assuming Kiri was stronger, but there was still a lot we didn’t know about the guy. I should have come sooner.

Cleaning his room took a lot of effort. There were clothes blanketing the whole floor, so I just gathered all of it and stuck them in the washer. Hopefully alien blood didn’t stain like human blood. I mopped and scrubbed the floor and walls and whatever surface the blood splattered. Cleaning an operating room was so much easier than this; at least there wasn’t any fabric to worry about. 

Once that was done, I wet a washcloth and tried my best to clean up the much shorter man. By the time I’d finished cleaning, he’d stopped sobbing, but was now just laying limply on the couch, eyes open but definitely vacant. It broke my heart to see Sebastian like this and I honestly wasn’t sure how or if I could fix it. 

Getting him to eat was impossible. He was basically in a catatonic state, so I grabbed my bag from my car and set up an I.V. I had a banana bag mostly for hangovers, but this was clearly a better use, as I couldn’t get him to drink anything either. There was some green blood on the couch too, so I shifted the doctor away from it and covered him with a blanket. What the fuck did I get myself into?


	14. Hurt

It just kept replaying in my mind.

My ankle pulsed angrily as I tried to catch my footing, though my captor wasn’t letting up for an instant until I was tossed onto the bed. I flailed my arms, doing everything to hit whoever was assaulting me, but he was faster and stronger than I was, grabbing both of my wrists and slamming them into the bed. I sobbed aloud, yelling in terror as soon as I recognized the face of my tormentor. 

Justin screamed back in turn, bearded face red and angry. 

“You fucking thought you could run away from me, didn’t you?” he laughed, releasing one of my wrists to bring a fist to my face.

The force of the blow pushed my head to the side and I tasted the all too familiar coppery blood spilling into my mouth. He brought his fist up for another blow, but a clawed hand grabbed his wrist and wrenched him backwards, his heavy body slamming into and breaking the wall. 

Kiri let out a primal roar, pincers open wider and body in a fighting stance. Justin looked up at the alien, eyes wide and full of fear. I was so dizzy from the blow, but I sat up as best I could, pulling myself further onto the bed and away from the battle. I’d never seen Kiri fight anyone else before, never even seen him hunt, but from the confidence and rage pouring from the much larger man’s very being, I knew Justin was in trouble.

And it scared me.

Justin suddenly pulled a pistol from his pant’s pocket as Kiri advanced on the still fallen man and I screamed as an ear shattering shot rang out. Green blood splatter over me and the rest of the room behind Kiri, but the alien was completely unfazed. He snatched Justin’s ankle and dragged him out of the corner, but Justin kept shooting, not seemingly aiming as bullets flew everywhere, into the walls, my desk lamp and another shot straight through Kiri’s shoulder.

“Stop!” I screamed, but I was too terrified to move. I couldn’t stop them myself. I was a coward.

Kiri’s fist collided with Justin’s jaw and I barely registered teeth clattering to the floor. The alien snatched him by the throat and lifted him up with terrifying ease, Justin’s feet dangling somewhat off the floor. I suddenly knew exactly what Kiri was about to do as he used his other hand to grip Justin’s head and I screamed again, tears flowing freely. 

Suddenly, Kiri stopped moving. I could see his jaw working and his claws just barely piercing Justin’s neck. The other man was flailing, kicking and grabbing at Kiri’s hands, but there was just absolutely no comparison. Kiri could overpower ten regular human men easily. But he wasn’t moving. 

“Kiri…” I whimpered, heart pounding. “Kiri please stop… don’t…”

His head turned somewhat towards me as I spoke. That was the only indication he even heard what I said. He slowly lowered Justin, though didn’t release his neck or head. My breath hitched as Kiri took hold of both Justin’s arms, one in each hand.

“You won’t return,” Kiri snarled, voice garbled and almost unrecognizable. 

He squeezed and I heard the sickening pop and snap of Justin’s forearms breaking in several places. Just from his grip alone. I let out a choked sob and looked away as Justin screamed, dropping to the floor, arms dangling uselessly by his side.

“Leave.”

I barely heard Justin uttering some form of a weak threat as he stumbled out of my room, out of the cabin and hopefully out of my life. I sat on the bed, body shaking uncontrollably and suddenly I realized I couldn’t breathe. My breath kept catching in my throat and I coughed, choking. I was so dizzy, I almost didn’t register Kiri moving to stand in front of me, bringing a hand up to rest on my cheek. One of his bullet wounds was right in my line of sight and I cried out, bringing a shaky hand up to his belly. Green blood oozed out lazily, but with two wounds he was still at serious risk of blood loss.

He grasped my shoulders, squeezing tightly until I looked up at him. 

“Sebastian…”

For whatever reason, just him saying my name triggered another gush of tears. They stung my busted lip, but honestly it didn’t really matter. I couldn’t focus and Kiri was going to die. He was going to die because I couldn’t focus. My vision wobbled and I dropped my head again, shoulders shaking. Kiri slipped his hands around my back and pulled me in close. 

“You’re safe. I’m okay… please stop crying,” he said softly, followed by a few gentle clicks.

“You’re not okay,” I hiccuped, forehead on his chest. 

“Then fix me…”

I looked up at him suddenly. Fix… right… that was something I could do. I can fix him. I had to be the one to do it. I heard the snap of bones again in the back of my head and tried not to be sick. It was scary how much power Kiri really had, but I couldn’t focus on that right now. 

Kiri sat on the couch, still and patient as ever as I taped some gauze over his shoulder wound.

“It’s gunna hurt for a while,” I mumbled lowly, fatigue washing over me heavily.

“That is okay…” he responded, looking down at me.

“He’s going to tell the cops,” I added after a moment of silence, keeping my hand over the square gauze on his shoulder.

“I’m not entirely sure he’d dare to,” Kiri snorted, looking out the window before returning his attention back to me. “He’d have to explain too much.”

When I didn’t say anything in turn, he started to bring a hand up to my cheek, but I pulled away. It was entirely subconscious. This felt too similar, like how I’d bandage Justin’s hands after he finished beating the shit out of me. I knew Kiri had done nothing to hurt me, in fact he suffered these wounds to protect me, but I was scared. I was scared to sit this close to him right then. I knew that if I removed my hand from his shoulder, he’d see it was shaking. 

“Maybe…” My voice wavered too much, “you should leave for a few days.. Hide out,” I all but whispered, fresh tears wetting my cheeks again.

Kiri didn’t respond for quite some time and I was worried he didn’t hear me, but then he just nodded. 

“If that is what you wish.”

He stood and my hand dropped into my lap. What I wouldn’t give to be anyone else right now.

I was only vaguely aware of Ray moving about the house and at one point he put an I.V. in my arm. I knew I should eat. My stomach was painfully reminding me every so often what it needed, but I just couldn’t move. It had to be days later. Ray was still here, trying to get me to eat and barely succeeding. It was all my fault.

A roar from out in the woods snapped me out of my trance. I sat right up, the blanket slumping off me and the couch and Ray jumped, having been sitting in Kiri’s chair. My heart rate skyrocketed and I stumbled off the couch and out through the back door, letting the I.V. tear out of my arm. I didn’t even feel the pain as I slammed through the door and clambered my way, bare foot, through the cold wet grass and into the woods.


End file.
